


No Time to Cry (keep moving, kiddo)

by keyringkie



Series: their blessing, his burden [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Gen, Gods AU, I still don't know how to tag fics, Mentioned Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), for once, this was beta read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:28:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27787510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyringkie/pseuds/keyringkie
Summary: Tommy barely knows how to hold his sword properly, and suddenly he’s bombarded with things to do and he doesn’t understand why.Tommy’s just a kid. But he can’t stop now.
Series: their blessing, his burden [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028108
Comments: 9
Kudos: 362





	No Time to Cry (keep moving, kiddo)

**Author's Note:**

> pogchamp i powered through this because tommyinnit. and also bonus karl jacobs. nods.

He’s tired.

Tommy is eight years old and alone in the world.

All he has left are his clothes, his sword. The bracelet. Ashes. So many ashes.

Gods above, he’s scared.

He’s exhausted.

Tommy is nine and a half and knows how to fight.

Knows how to dodge and weave, how to hide, how to stand his ground and push forwards against all odds.

Sometimes he can’t breathe, not for a moment.

He’s ten and he’s learned all that he can. Karl was a big help - thank  _ fuck  _ for Karl Jacobs, he wouldn’t have made it two steps without his mentorship. 

If he’s gonna be honest, he wasn’t even sure Karl was real, but that worked out well for him at least. Spending two days in the wastelands was worth it. 

See, Karl Jacobs is sort of a legend at this point. A chosen one, much like Tommy, so it was the only place he could start.

Though, nobody was sure Jacobs was real. So maybe it wasn’t the best plan. But Tommy was eight and desperate, and it was the only plan he could think of.

What scared Tommy was the fact that Karl told Tommy he was only twenty-four.

His own parents were older than that. At least, he thinks they were. And Karl doesn’t look all that old.

Karl got an ending without dying in the process. Whether it’s a happy one or not is up for debate. Will Tommy get something like that? He doesn’t like to think about that too often.

He’s jolted out of his thoughts by an expectant thud of metal on wood. Tommy wipes his face hastily, scrambling for his sword again. He’s up and in position in the matter of a few seconds, the sword shaking slightly in his hands. Despite how many times he’s practiced, he’s still always a little unsteady. Not that he’s imbalanced - no, it’s because he’s too excited. The thrill of a fight, the rush of victory. It’s all that fuels him.

He takes in his opponent - Karl, as usual. His stance is relaxed, and his sword hasn’t moved from where it’s stuck in the floor. He watches as Karl leans forward slightly, pulling the sword out and swinging it experimentally before he raises an eyebrow at Tommy.

Tommy inhales. Exhales. And then they begin.

The clang of metal on metal rings for hours. A constant and never-ending duel, with a child holding true against a world-renowned hero.

Karl’s taught Tommy everything he knows. But Tommy knows how Karl fights, knows his ins and outs, his weaknesses, his strengths. Tommy keeps learning. Karl does not.

That is why Tommy seems to walk away victorious. He craves the rush of victory too much to lose.

Karl’s proud of him. The kid’s come a long way from two years ago. (Distantly, he wishes that he didn’t need to help Tommy. He seems like a good kid. He doesn’t want him to go through what he did.)

The two laugh, Tommy trying his best to help Karl up to his feet. 

It’s bittersweet, really. This companionship.

Because on one hand, Karl can be for Tommy what he never had - a mentor, a friend. Someone who understands.

On the other, Tommy has a lot coming. Too much for just a kid.

Silently, Karl wonders if Dream knows about him. The weight Tommy carries is immeasurable.

Karl barely got out of his own story alive, and even then he only had one god on his side. (What he doesn’t know is that while he only had Dream’s blessing, there were others, two of them, cheering him on.)

Tommy is ten and a half and bidding farewell to Karl.

He’s not happy to leave. Karl’s not happy to see him go.

And yet they maintain appearances, and then Tommy is gone.

Karl hopes he’ll see the kid again. He knows he probably won’t, not until he’s dead. Hopefully Karl can greet Tommy at the gates, not the other way around.

\- + -

Tommy is eleven and he is completely and utterly worn out.

Life is quest after quest, battle after war after victory, repeat. He’s still a child, but people are starting to know his name. 

There’s no time to stop. He can barely breathe before he’s swept into another conflict, another  quest, another journey. He lets it happen. People trust him, so he’ll make them proud. 

What other choice does he have?

**Author's Note:**

> just a small oneshot about tommy nd how he gets to where he'll be in the future :)
> 
> no dialogue!!! i promise he gets to talk more later i just literally cannot remember how human conversation works


End file.
